Types of Hugs, Types of Kisses
by The Tiny Foxtail
Summary: A one-shot collection about all of the love going on between our favorite Fairies! Multiple pairings. Fluffiness ahead! (Chapter 3: GaLe- Wary -Because he always overlooked the bookworm, and she's determined to get him to see her. Although taking up reading was never exactly in Gajeel's plan.) Pairing suggestions welcomed!
1. NaLu- Furry

**Hi there and welcome to my new one-shot collection-y... thing! XD **

**I saw a challenge a while ago on some website where you pick your favorite pairing, and then use a random adjective generator to come up with the type of hug you should write about them having. I was curious about it, so I decided to go ahead and try! But why just limit yourself to one pairing and just hugs? Lol! So I'll be doing a bunch of pairings, with hugs and kisses alike!**

** So the chapter title, and the type of hug/kiss will be what a random adjective generator gave me! I have to use it. No exceptions, and no skips! **

**The length of these will vary along with the genre. Some might be like this one, aka, silly/stupid/fun, some might be sad, some might have drama, and who knows, maybe some will have humor. Tee hee! **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D**

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_Because Natsu's gone too far, Lucy's embarrassed, and Happy's always in the wrong place at the wrong time. No, this wasn't what Lucy'd thought her first kiss with Natsu would be like._

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_**#1: NaLu- Furry**_

That was it. That was the last straw as far as Lucy was concerned. He had to know. There was no other way he would've done that if he hadn't known. That stupid fire breather.

Lucy's feet slammed down on the cobblestone as she marched back to her apartment, not even paying attention to the man in the boat who called out to her to be careful, and that if she stomped that hard she'd break her foot. She didn't care. That pyro was finally going to get a piece of her mind whether he wanted it or not. She was tired of the embarrassment.

She shook her head in frustration. Natsu was so oblivious, so stupid, so dense, and yet there was no doubt in her mind that he knew. He knew that she was filled to the brim with unexpressed emotion for him. She had fallen for Natsu, the dense one, and yet he had figured her out. Perhaps that's what made her the angriest, or maybe it was the fact that he'd somehow tricked her. He wasn't as oblivious as she had pegged him to be. He just played the stupid card to embarrass her. She was sure of it.

Every little gesture he administered onto her. The casual times he would throw his arm over her shoulder, grinning ear-to-ear. She would blush furiously while he floated high with ignorance. The times he'd stretch out on her bed and ask to sleep with her. She'd squeal, throwing a pillow at him and yelling that he needed to get out. She realized how it'd look if they slept in the same bed, he didn't. It was like that. She liked him, and he was clueless. However Lucy was slowly learning that perhaps those moments when he'd do things like that, completely oblivious to how they made her feel, were all an act.

He knew. He knew how those things made her feel. And in an act of amusement he'd continue to do them, acting as if he had no clue every time, while secretly understanding it all.

That was the only explanation Lucy could think of. Those gestures had been going on for too long and had been getting too intimate for him to just be doing it in a friendly way. No way. Not after today when he'd given her a peck on the cheek. Friends didn't do that. Especially not Natsu. Lucy had been nearly 100% sure that Natsu hadn't even known what a kiss w_as _let alone how to perform one. Even if it w_as _only a peck.

Yes, that moronic dragon knew a lot more than he let on. And it infuriated her.

Lucy turned the corner, stomping just as hard on the steps up to her apartment, all the while mumbling under her breath about various ways she could make Natsu pay. It would all be easier if he was embarrassed by anything. But he wasn't. He was always so happy and carefree. Nothing seemed to embarrass him, and that just made Lucy's blood boil even hotter. That fire breathing moron had embarrassed her to no end and there was no way she could get back at him.

She shoved the key into the lock of her apartment, turning it and storming into the room, slamming the door behind her with her foot and tossing her bag onto her bed. It was brainstorming time. She'd find a way to get back at Natsu. She would. A way that would make him regret ever embarrassing her in the first place. Oh yes, he'd regret the times he made Lucy Heartfilia blush. He'd regret them all.

She stomped into the kitchen, yanking the fridge door open and kicking off her shoes. A good brainstorming session required a good sandwich. She pulled out the jelly and closed the door with a bang, whirling around to the counter, where suddenly on the other side a certain salmon haired boy was sitting, staring at her with a confused look on his face, his head leaning on one of his hands. Where had he come from?!

"KYAAA!" Lucy yelled, nearly jumping out of her skin and the jar of jelly flying into the air.

Natsu jumped as well at her loud shout, slipping backwards and falling off of his stool, disappearing behind the counter with an 'oof'. The jar of jelly came crashing back down on the counter a moment later, exploding on impact, glass and goo flying everywhere.

Lucy cowered, slapping both hands over her face in an attempt to shield it. Luckily, all of the debris missed her, and the condiment landed with multiple splats on the floor. She peeked through her fingers when the room was finally quiet to see Natsu peering over the counter hesitantly, only his face from the eyes up visible.

"You okay, Luce?" he asked hesitantly, his eyes crossing as he focused on a splat of jelly right in front of his nose.

All of the malice she had felt toward him only a few seconds ago seemed to fly out the window when she saw his completely innocent expression. "Don't scare me like that, Natsu," she breathed, taking her hands away from her face and resting one on her heart while glowering at the mess she'd made.

Natsu grinned, hopping back up on his stool and placing his elbows on the counter, a blissful smile stretching across his face.

Lucy glared at him for a moment before sighing and reaching over to the sink for a towel. That smile. It made her thoughts trail back to why she'd been so peeved by him. He acted so oblivious and yet he wasn't. That's right. That was why she was so mad. Mad at him and his stupid embarrassment tactics. Yes, that's right.

As she began to clean up the mess she let herself wallow in the frustration again. If she could get her irritation back up to how strong it'd been before, maybe she could yell at Natsu properly. She could accuse him for his act, put him on the spot, and then maybe _he'd _be the embarrassed one. Oh yes, that'd be perfect. But before her annoyance had built back up enough for her to speak up, Natsu had beat her to the punch.

"Hey Luce, about today…," he trailed off.

Lucy had bent over to pick up a chunk of glass but froze, shooting back up to look at Natsu. What was this? He looked… hesitant. Natsu never looked hesitant. Lucy squinted one eye at him. Was this some act too? Was he planning on piling on more embarrassment for her? If so… that was it. She'd have to put him in his place.

Natsu looked up to her, with what she swore was a hint of a blush on his face, his hand scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry. I guess I kinda just got carried away…"

Lucy cocked an eyebrow. Was he referring to the peck on the cheek? The thing that had finally pushed her over the edge? Her curiosity was piqued. Was he regretting it? Why? She tossed down the towel on the counter and rested her elbows on it, mimicking Natsu's former position. "What'ddya mean?" she asked.

"Well," Natsu coughed, looking to the side, "Y'know. I kinda… kissed ya, and that was probably too far," he said slowly, looking down at his lap sheepishly.

If Lucy had been drinking something, it would've been all over Natsu. Surprised was an understatement. Confused was an understatement. She had no idea what her partner had meant by that. She squinted harder at him. Was he finally owning up to the fact that he'd been putting on a charade of oblivion? Was he admitting that teasing her was one thing, but toying with her emotions by kissing her had been too far? Surely.

Natsu dared a glance back up at her, before cringing under her stare and frowning. "Sorry," he said carefully, "I mean, if you're mad."

She cocked her head to the side. Mad? Really? She wasn't _mad. _Did she want to pummel him for being so insensitive and for teasing her to no end? Oh heck yes. But she wasn't mad.

She wasn't sure what to say, the urge to reprimand him once again fizzling out. If she could only keep up her irritation toward him for a few minutes she'd be able to rat him out, but with that cute innocent face she just somehow couldn't. She sighed at her own weakness and shoved off of the counter, wiping up some of the jelly while shaking her head, "You're a sneaky one," she mumbled to herself.

"Eh?" Natsu peeped, straitening up in his chair with surprise. "Sneaky?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded, tossing a chip of glass into the trash. "Yeah. You've got everyone thinking you're so clueless, but you're really not. You're a good actor, Natsu," she said, nodding to him with a reluctant smile.

Natsu paused for a moment, staring at her with what looked to be disbelief. "A good actor? What are you talking about, Luce?"

"Yeah, like that," she said, nodding and pointing to him before placing the towel in the sink again. She'd cleaned up the kitchen enough for it to not be a minefield of glass and jelly. She figured she'd go back to it later and really clean it. But at the moment she had a more pressing problem in the form of a very confused-looking fire mage, who wouldn't own up to his act.

"What?!" Natsu asked, "I have no idea what you're talking about Lucy. I think you've spent too much time in the spirit world lately," he said, shaking his head and tsking to himself.

She glared at him as she paced out of the kitchen and over to her desk. It was alright if he played the fool, but if he was going to insult her while he was at it, that was too much. "C'mon Natsu," she said through gritted teeth, "You know you've been embarrassing me on purpose. Just own up to it," she grunted, reaching down and ripping a small scrap of paper off of her notebook.

"Embarrassing you?" Natsu asked, as if he hadn't heard those words before in his life. "I still have no idea what you're talking about."

Lucy's eyes were glued to the Dragon Slayer who was still perched on his stool, his eyes wide with exasperation and his hands held out slightly as if he was literally trying to grasp onto what she was saying. She stalked back over to the counter, scribbling down a note to buy jelly the next time she went to the store before pinning it on the fridge with a magnet. Fine, if he wasn't going to admit to it, she'd force him to answer. "Well then why'd you kiss me today? It was to embarrass me, right?" she asked.

Natsu's already wide eyes grew even larger, this time what she was certain was a blush making itself known on his face. "I-I already told you I just kinda went too far-" he cut himself short at the glare Lucy was sending him. He wasn't answering the question and she wasn't amused. Natsu sighed, slumping over in defeat before answering. "Cuz, I mean… maybe I kinda like you, Luce."

Lucy's tense features relaxed immediately, her eyebrows drifting apart from one another before shooting upwards. "What?" Of all the things she'd expected him to use as an excuse, that sure wasn't one. Wait, _was _that really an excuse, or did he really mean it? That look on his face sure made it look like he was serious. No. There was no way that flame-brain could comprehend a feeling like that. There was no way he could reciprocate those feelings she held for him. He was just playing. He was the one to feign cluelessness, not the one to seriously have those kinds of feelings.

Natsu's cheeks heated up further, the room seemingly growing a few degrees hotter as his body began pumping out warmth in his embarrassment. "Don't make me say it Lucy," he said slowly.

Wait… was he serious? He was serious! Make him say what? Lucy's brain couldn't possibly comprehend the fact that Natsu was truly embarrassed. He was seriously and truly embarrassed. Over kissing her. She slowly began to go over all of those instances that he had embarrassed her. Could she have been wrong? That maybe his carefree attitude with those stupid gestures wasn't because he was oblivious _or_ because he was trying to embarrass her; but perhaps because of a third reason: he actually enjoyed them. He actually cared about her and so he wanted to be close to her. She hadn't thought there was a third option in this situation; but as Natsu spoke up once again, his voice barely louder than a whisper, she realized there in fact _was _a third explanation.

"I like… like you-like you, Lucy. More than… y'know, a friend or partner," he said, his words rushed and his eyes on anything but Lucy in that moment.

Even though he'd sounded more like a kindergartener than a grown man saying that he _'liked her-liked her', _Lucy felt like she'd been hit by a bus. There was his confession, and she was beyond elated. Her insides felt all warm and fuzzy and her brain seemed to fail her. This boy that she'd helplessly dreamed about for so long now actually somehow had not only comprehended the feeling of love, but he actually felt it for her. Her muscles seemed to freeze, her face permanently stuck with her mouth hanging open slightly and her eyes wide. Was this a dream? If so, no one wake her up.

Natsu leaned away from the counter as if to get a better look at her, his blush fading. "L-Luce… you okay?" he asked for the second time that evening. "Wait a second," Natsu said quickly, cocking his head to the side and bringing up a finger to his chin. "You said I kissed you to embarrass you… why would I do that? Why would that embarrass you?" he asked.

Mavis, he was_ just_ as oblivious as he looked. Lucy took back all of the accusations she had made about Natsu on her way home. Nope, he was _just_ as clueless as he let on. At least when it came to other people. Somehow he'd managed to comprehend his own feelings, but anything anyone else felt, he was in the dark. Lucy sighed, finally wiping the shocked look off of her face with some effort and stuttering over her words as she tried to answer Natsu's question. "Well, I thought you'd have noticed by now," Lucy whispered, that damn blush coming right back to her cheeks. Dammit Natsu, why did he make her so flustered?

Natsu's eyes widened, "Noticed what? You're not dying or something are you, Lucy?!" he gasped, shooting forward and over the counter so his face was mere inches from hers.

Lucy's face fell into an unamused look. Why did she have to fall for someone so dense? But at least he cared. He really did. She sighed, "No I'm not _dying_, Natsu. It's just that, well I guess maybe I…," she paused, backing away from Natsu's face slightly. Man, this was uncomfortable. And in a moment of desperation she used the fire mage's words against him in one of the most childish things she'd ever said. "Maybe I like you-like you too, Natsu," she said, resisting the urge to slap a hand to her forehead.

She watched with intrigue as Natsu's face turned from concern into one of the largest smiles she'd ever seen. "Really?!" Natsu asked, bouncing up and down with excitement, still basically laying across the counter and still just as close to her face as before. Every time she'd back away, he'd scoot closer. He just didn't understand personal space, especially when they were having a talk like this one.

"Yes… really," Lucy blinked, wondering to herself if it had been a mistake or not to tell him. Did he _really _understand all this? Or for some reason had he mistook it for something else? Maybe he thought saying that you… "like-liked" someone, was a way of saying you were _best _friends, not just friends. Lucy barely stifled the exasperated groan she wanted to make at that thought. He looked so giddy that there was a pretty good chance that was correct.

"So does that mean I get to kiss you again, Luce?"

She froze, her entire body going rigid and her eyes wide and searching Natsu's for some kind of answer. That hadn't been real had it? He hadn't just seriously said that, had he? He almost looked like an excited puppy as he looked over at her with question, purely elated to even be near her.

"I-I guess," she squeaked, "If you want to." This was all moving too fast. How had this happened? Nearly five minutes ago she'd been cursing him in her mind and trying to come up with ways to get back at him and now here he was, inches away from her, asking to kiss her. She guessed crazier things had happened, although she couldn't think of a specific example.

"Ooh, really?" he asked excitedly, "Like, can I now?"

Was he serious?! Did he even understand what a kiss was? Or was he just wanting to give her a peck on the cheek again? Lucy's mind was a tornado of confused and jumbled thoughts as she contemplated her answer. And after a while she realized she wasn't getting anywhere, and that perhaps the only way to find out which he wanted, was to say yes. Was she really doing this? Yes, yes she was.

"Yeah, yeah you can," she breathed slowly, her eyes closing in anticipation. She couldn't watch. She couldn't watch and try to guess whether he was going for her mouth or her cheek. She'd rather sit in the dark that her eyelids provided and wait. And that was what she did, until she felt a strong gust of wind on her face, her hair blowing backwards and something warm coming into contact with her mouth.

She scrunched her eyebrows together. Oh Mavis, this is not what she'd expected it to be like. No, when she'd thought about what her first kiss with Natsu would be like, it had never felt like this. It was so… furry. Furry? What on Earthland was this? Had he not shaved? She dared a peek through her eyelashes and instead of seeing the closed and contented face of Natsu, she saw blue. Bright blue fuzz.

"AAACK!" Lucy yelled, shooting backwards and vigorously wiping her mouth, trying to get any remnants of fur off of her lips. "Happy what are you doing?!" she shouted, shivering in disgust.

Happy was frozen on the spot, even his wings unmoving, and a very shocked expression on his tiny face. He didn't even move when Natsu shot back from the kiss as well, wiping his tongue with his hand and asking his buddy what the heck he was doing there.

Lucy realized that the gust of wind she'd felt before the kiss had most likely been Happy shooting through the window and in between them. She'd ended up kissing his belly, and Natsu had ended up kissing his back. Lucy had seen the small cat have a lot of disgusted faces throughout the time she'd known him, but this one rivaled them all.

"I feel so… violated," Happy squeaked, his eyes squinting.

"Well no dip!" Lucy yelled, her cheeks flushing bright red. She'd been oddly excited to kiss Natsu, even in this weird circumstance and she was very disappointed that it hadn't happened. "Why did you do that?" she asked a little louder, still trying to pick blue fuzz off of her lips.

Happy shook his head, bringing himself back to reality and letting his wings disappear in a poof of magic, landing on the counter in between Lucy and Natsu, who looked just about as peeved as she felt. Lucy couldn't help but smile at Natsu's face. He was disappointed too. And for some reason that made her stomach fill with butterflies.

"I-I just," Happy stuttered, his paws moving around and his eyes slowly filling with tears, "I mean, I just," he stuttered further, his small furry chin quivering before he finally blurted it out. "I'm just afraid if you guys get together I'll be the third wheel in our team!" he wailed, tears slowly trickling down his cheeks. "I don't wanna be left out!" he said, sniveling pitifully to himself.

Lucy's mouth dropped ajar slightly. That was sure not what she had expected. With all the teasing Happy administered upon her she figured that besides Mira, the blue Exceed was the number one supporter for her to get together with Natsu.

"Natsu talks about you all the time and I know if you two finally confessed to each other, you'll be all like, couple-y, and I'll be left out and-," Happy cut himself off with a strong hiccup, tears still running down his cheeks no matter how many times he wiped them away with the back of his paw.

Lucy's irritation with the interruption to her kiss with Natsu disappeared. Happy was incredibly distressed about this. She figured now they needed to attend to the cat; she'd have plenty of other times to kiss Natsu. At least she hoped so.

"No you won't, buddy," Natsu said, looking almost offended, "If you think I'd let you feel left out, you're crazy," he said, patting Happy on the head and sending the cat one of his signature smiles.

"Really?" Happy squeaked, sniffing again and turning to Lucy for confirmation.

Lucy paused for a second. Happy always teased her, no matter what the subject, he teased her. Should she take advantage of this situation and tease him back? But with the pitifully desperate look on his face, she decided against it. As much as she hated to admit it, she cared for Happy more than she could fathom. She loved that cat as much as Natsu did, even if he _was_ annoying at times.

Lucy reached forward, gently picking Happy up off of the counter and holding him at eye level. "Of course. We're all a team. A three person team. We'll always be together, no one left out," she said with a smile.

Happy's tears sprung to life again after that comment and he nodded vigorously, shooting forward and hugging Lucy, much to the blonde's surprise. She looked at Natsu with shock, almost wordlessly asking him what to do. The salmon-haired mage grinned back, his eyes holding an emotion she couldn't place. Perhaps he was glad to finally see his two partners getting along so well? She didn't know.

Lucy sighed and wrapped her arms around the Exceed, resting her cheek on his head. Even if the little cat had interrupted a kiss she'd waited for for longer than she could remember, he was part of the team. Because after all, Natsu and Happy were a packaged deal; you couldn't have one without the other. Lucy smiled to herself and closed her eyes. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

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**So there is the first one! I hope you liked it! The first one I got was Furry, and I just facepalmed. XD I decided to start with NaLu since it's my OTP. ****I'll do two per pairing to start off with. And I'm planning on doing NaLu, then GaLe, then Gruvia. **

**Then after that... I dunno! If you have any suggestions for pairings I'd be happy to take them! Even if you want more NaLu or any of the other ones I've done. (because I'm a sucker for those cute ones. XD)**

**This is my first shot at a Fairy Tail one-shot! I would absolutely love any feedback you could give me! How did I do? Foxtail-chan's always looking for feedback. Tee hee.**

**Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend! :D**


	2. NaLu- Weak

**Hello! Another chapter/one-shot after only a week? I think that's a personal record. XD Maybe it's because I'm addicted to one-shots. Haha! Every time I go to generate an adjective I'm just hoping and praying when I press that little button, it'll be a good one. I got a rather shippy word for this chapter so I'm happy. XD**

**This one should give a pretty good feel for the diversity of these little things. It's a lot shorter than the other one, and it's nowhere near the same genre. If I did my job, this one should be sad, but then again I'm terrible at writing things that are sad. XD**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

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_Because when Natsu finally tells Lucy how he feels, it's already too late._

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_**#2- NaLu- Weak**_

Of all the times Natsu'd seen Lucy hurt at the hands of another mage, none of them had felt like this. He watched, his body frozen and his eyes wide as she fell, her breath catching and her eyes blank as she tumbled backward, collapsing in a heap on the ground. He couldn't help her, his body unable to move, and his heart pounding.

It had been a harmless job they had taken, just for fun. Lucy needed rent money, Natsu was bored, and so they once again teamed up to complete a job together. It was everyday stuff, and yet it had gone so wrong. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd been goofing off, or if they truly had been blindsided, but either way he considered it his fault.

It was an easy job, so he wasn't taking it as seriously as most. He was more focused on playing around, joking with Happy, and making Lucy laugh, than actually concentrating on the job. They'd been walking across a large field to the next town, instead of taking the train, a sacrifice Lucy gave for Natsu's motion sickness. He'd been walking backwards, hands behind his head and a grin on his face as Lucy giggled at a joke he'd made. She'd told him he was funny, and to stop or she'd get the hiccups, and right after the last word had left her mouth, a man came from out of nowhere and turned Natsu's world upside down.

He hadn't seen the man before in his life, nor did he believe that the man had anything to do with the job request. Natsu couldn't place a single reason that the masked man would want to hurt them, especially someone as innocent as Lucy.

Whatever magic the man had, had made it unable for Natsu to move, his entire body seemingly disconnecting from his brain until he was unable to move even a finger. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch, even when the man grabbed Lucy around the neck, smirking to himself as he placed a palm on the side of her head.

Natsu'd shouted to Happy to go get help, and the blue Exceed had complied, sending a nod before zooming away, his wings carrying him quickly toward a more populated area. The salmon-haired Dragon Slayer watched, his heart cracking, as Lucy looked at him, panic in her eyes, almost pleading with him to do s_omething _to help her. He couldn't.

The man had never said a word to Natsu or Lucy. He had never given any explanation of why he had arrived, or what he was going to do. He had simply stood there for a moment, eyeing Natsu as he struggled in vain to break whatever kind of curse he had been put under, and grinning when the Dragon Slayer was unable to crack it even a little.

Then, when the man had soaked up enough of the sight, he had pressed his palm to Lucy's head harder, whispering something to himself that Natsu couldn't decipher. A black and purple haze surrounded the man's hand before making a loud snapping sound. The haze dispersed, fizzling out of existence and for a moment Natsu wondered if the man had decided against hurting them, or if it had all been just some cruel joke.

And that's when Lucy screamed. A blood-curdling cry that shook Natsu to his core. Her back arched in agony as the man released her, her body falling and crumpling on the ground.

Natsu's body wasn't the only thing frozen, as he found out when he tried to call out to her, his mind a frenzy of panic, and his voice failing him.

Natsu in that moment felt as if his entire world came crashing down, bursting at the seams and collapsing into a pile of rubble. Lucy, the girl who had been his partner for so long, the girl who he knew better than anyone, and the one that knew _him _inside and out; the girl who he trusted with his life, the girl he'd vowed to himself to protect, and the girl he was irrevocably in love with. He'd have given his life for hers in an instant, and yet here he was, watching helplessly from the sidelines, unable to do anything, even to call out to her and express the anguish he felt.

Yes, this time when Lucy went falling to the ground, Natsu knew something was different. In the past, even if she'd been hurt, she was alright in the grand scheme of things, but this time she wasn't, and he knew it. He just knew it.

He searched her face, lying on the ground, for some sort of response, and found none. Her eyes were glassy, all of the light seemingly sucked out of those beautiful eyes that he loved so much. Her mouth was open slightly, and she was unmoving. She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing.

Natsu struggled against his captor's bounds again to call out to her, and once again failed. He was horrified, his eyes wide and his soul quivering. This couldn't be happening. Lucy couldn't have gotten fatally injured while under his care. He was the one that was supposed to protect _her_ from any harm, and yet here he was, his Exceed of more help at the moment than he could ever hope to be.

It was as if the man had read his mind, and realized the agony he was going through; the masked man snorted to himself, in a quick flick of his arm disappearing into thin air, the invisible binding around Natsu disappearing with him.

Natsu's legs wobbled, tripping as he desperately lurched forward and toward the blonde lying motionless on the ground. He stumbled, scrambling as he rushed forward, dropping to his knees by her side. He grabbed her hopefully, turning her over in his arms until she was facing upwards, her emotionless face staring up past him and into the sky. He clutched her tighter.

"L-Lucy," he stuttered, shaking her lightly. "Lucy say something," he muttered, his eyes searching her face for any sort of movement and coming up empty.

He reached a thumb up to brush across her cheek, his hand beginning to shake in dread. No, this couldn't be happening. It was all too sudden; this was just a dream. Surely it was. Lucy would always be with him, by his side, laughing with him. She'd always be there; at least that's what he'd always thought. He thought he had all the time in the world with her, and so there was no rush for anything. He had years to do everything he wanted to do with her.

He could wait until he had enough money to take her to another country, one that had fancy museums and chic bookstores. He could wait until he had the information about her to surprise her on her birthday with something she loved most. He didn't have to rush, he could always just sit and wait, gathering all he could about her in good time. He could wait until he had enough courage to tell her how he really felt, and enough courage to ask her out on a proper date. He thought he had had all the time in the world for those things; and yet now, his time had been cut short, before he'd been able to do _any _of those things.

He felt himself begin to shake a little more violently, his breathing ragged as another round of panic set in. "No," he whispered to himself, "C'mon, Luce, wake up," he said, shaking her again, her eyes still just as lifeless as before. Natsu choked, a lump in his throat beginning to form.

"C'mon Luce, we still have so much to do," he breathed, "We gotta go get your rent money." His eyes fluttered, his brain and heart alike not wanting to comprehend the sight in front of him. "Your landlady is gonna be awfully mad if you don't get back soon with it," he squeaked.

He shook her again, barely even able to muster up enough strength to move her side to side. Her hair shifted, but her gaze did not. He couldn't feel a pulse in her arms and he was certain her chest wasn't rising and falling at all.

"Lucy," he whispered again, "I'll take you to that restaurant you've always wanted to go to," he nearly begged. "I know I said it was too fancy, but if you want to, we can." A bittersweet smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. She'd begged everyone at the guild, especially Natsu, to go with her, and yet everyone had said that it was too expensive and too posh for their tastes. Natsu desperately wished he would've agreed.

"We can go on a quest to find another key," he said quietly, trying desperately to swallow the lump in his throat that was slowly starting to burn. "I think I heard that the town to the east has a silver key in one of their shops." Nothing. He'd hoped beyond hope that maybe if he said something tempting enough that she'd somehow shutter back, but she didn't.

"C'mon Lucy," he said a little louder, and more desperately, his eyes prickling slightly. "We still have so much to do, so many people to meet," he choked, "I still have things I want to tell you."

He ground his teeth together as she once again didn't respond. His eyesight was steadily becoming blurrier and blurrier and he was grabbing onto her forearms tighter and tighter. This had to be some sort of sick nightmare, it just had to be.

"I love you, Luce," he whispered, his voice catching as a tear finally made it past the brink and trickled down his face, "I know I never told you that, but I do. I was always afraid you'd freak out if I told you," he said slowly, sniffing and blinking as another tear rolled down his cheek. "But I guess I should've just manned up and told ya," he choked, closing his eyes in denial.

He had been such a coward, and now it was too late. Maybe if he'd have told her, they'd have been off on a date now, instead of taking a mission. Or maybe she would've rejected him and they wouldn't have been doing anything together at all. Either way he decided it would've been better than this, because she would've still been there, at the guild, breathing, talking, laughing; anything was better than this.

And that was when his mind snapped, reality finally seeping in and causing another wave of grief to wash over him. This wasn't just some bad dream that he'd wake up from, and no matter what he said to her or how many times he shook her, she'd never say anything. She couldn't. He had somehow allowed her to be harmed, and now he couldn't do anything to make up for it.

The woman that was his life was now gone, her body lying on his lap in the middle of nowhere, with no one around to hear his words.

He leaned forward desperately, sliding an arm under her and wrapping the other one around her, his body still shaking uncontrollably as he gave her a weak hug, his forehead resting on hers.

His heart shattered in that moment, a heart-wrenching cry escaping from his lips as his reason for being was now gone. His other half was gone. Lucy was gone. _His Lucy_. And as he sat there, rocking back and forth, his forehead pressed against hers as he sobbed uncontrollably, the tears falling on her face, he knew he'd never be the same.

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**So there it is! Was it sad? I hope so, or it'll just look weird and cheesy. XD**

**Oh my goodness, thank you all for the reviews and whatnot last chapter! They were wonderful, and I loved them all! And a big thanks to shadowninja2000, One Who Has Red Eyes, Jay Jay Newton, and The May Waters for the pairing suggestions! I'll definitely do them!**

**Feel free to suggest some more pairings, even ones that I've already done or ones that have already been suggested. I'll either do more of that pairing or make the one-shot quicker if I get duplicate requests for it. Haha! I have a little thing on my profile with the ones I've already generated adjectives for, if you're curious. XD**

**Next chapter is GaLe! Here we go! It'll be much more upbeat than this one. I hope you have a great week! :D**


	3. GaLe- Wary

**Hi there and welcome to the third one-shot! This'll be the first one that's not NaLu, and it's a pairing that I think is just as cute, GaLe! *fangirls* I wanted to post this on Valentine's Day, because... it kinda fits, since it's shippy and all. Haha! **

**Sorry if this one feels weird, it kinda felt off to me. I got Wary, a rather shippy word and yet I had a bit of troubles with it. Huh.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

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_Because he always overlooked the bookworm, and she's determined to get him to see her. Although taking up reading was never exactly in Gajeel's plan._

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_**#3: GaLe- Wary**_

He was an idiot. A big idiot. A tall, gigantic, and gihi-ing idiot. And she sometimes felt as if she couldn't stand him; him and his jokes about her size, him and the fights he constantly got into, and most importantly him and his complete disregard for her existence.

Levy brought her legs up to her chest hastily, flipping through the pages in her book, all the while glaring at the back of his big stupid head. Her blood pressure was rising and her cheeks were growing hot. Because of anger or embarrassment, she wasn't sure. She was more than a little bashful about her love-hate relationship with him. Not that he knew that she felt that way. Heck, he didn't even know she was there half of the time. Even now.

Without any regard for the book she was reading she grabbed onto the page sloppily, ripping it from the binding and slamming her book closed. She had never torn a book before, but she would make an exception today. He was just so close; it was irresistible.

He sat there, at the next table over, his back facing her, and his attention focused on the book _he _was reading. She'd never seen him read a book before. And watching him slowly trace his finger across the lines of text was something that caused her to stop and stare in complete intrigue. On any normal day she'd have been elated to see the big lug read a book, but today, it made her angry.

Why was he reading that book anyway? What was it even about? And why was it more interesting than she was? She'd walked into the library after following him there; jogging after him and peeking around bookshelves, watching him slowly drag his fingers across the bindings until he found the one he was looking for. He then had made his way over to one of the tables, unceremoniously dropping into one of the chairs and cracking open the piece of literature without a glance at anyone else.

Making as much noise as she could without disrupting the other people there, she'd sat down at the table behind him. She'd hoped he'd look up and see her. She wished more than anything that she could talk about her love of novels with him. She wanted to share everything with him. But he hadn't ever expressed an interest in books before today. And even now, he didn't see her. No matter how many times she cleared her throat, how many times she scraped her chair on the floor, no matter what. He'd never see her. It was like she was invisible when it came to him.

Her breathing picked up its pace as she quickly ripped the sheet of paper into smaller pieces. Someone as small as she was shouldn't have been getting so worked up. She froze at the thought. Even her own mental notes were beginning to sound more and more like him.

She growled to herself, balling up one of the tiny scraps of paper and steadying herself. She held it between her index finger and thumb before taking aim, and flicking the ball of paper at the back of his stupid head. Its trajectory was perfect and it landed without a sound in his hair, nestling into the dark locks.

She bit her lip and sent herself a congratulations. She wasn't that bad of an aim.

He looked up from his book for a moment, and her breath hitched in her throat. She wanted him to notice her, but now that he was actually taking note of an annoyance behind him, flicking paper into his hair, she thought maybe she wouldn't want the attention. She let out a sigh when he shrugged to himself, focusing on the book again.

And that made her oddly angry. She took another scrap of paper, balling it up again. Screw getting caught by him, as long as he just acknowledged her presence she'd be satisfied. Even if he ended up yelling at her and asking her what the hell she thought she was doing.

She smiled to herself, lining up the shot again and squinting her left eye before flicking. Shot number two, perfect. It landed a little lower than the other one and stuck like glue.

He looked up again, his head turning to the right. Levy sunk a little lower in her chair, her heart pounding with nervous anticipation. She had no idea how he'd react, and she was within his plain sight now. She watched his eyes flick around the library, to his right, to his left; she knew he could see her out of the corner of his eye; it was just a matter of whether he _saw _her. And as he turned back to his book again, she realized he hadn't.

No matter where it was, the guild, on a job, or even in this library, he never saw her. She was there, right there, and yet he didn't notice it was her. Mavis, he made her angry.

She wasn't even sure why she wanted his attention so badly. Of course she knew at the present moment she wanted his attention so she could discuss books with him, mainly what one he was reading. But all the other times that he'd overlook her and she'd get frustrated because he never paid her any attention, she had no idea why. Why did she want him to notice her? Her mind trailed back to the love-hate relationship that she had thought about nearly nonstop when it came to Gajeel.

She hated him. The way he overlooked her just being the crowning blow to get her to notice exactly how much she loathed him. But she also liked him. Maybe she wanted his attention because she wanted to spend more time with him. Maybe, maybe not. And maybe she was frustrated that if he always overlooked her, a relationship would be impossible. That was a _big_ maybe in Levy's mind. Maybe they were more than partners, maybe they weren't. In her mind, anyway. In his she seemed to be almost like a little annoying dog that he'd learned to tune out.

With another angry grunt, Levy balled up three pieces of paper and hurled them all at the back of his head. Two stuck, one missed completely, flying past his face and onto the table next to his book. Her eyes widened, all of the angry and confusing thoughts coming to a halt. He was sure to notice now.

She watched, frozen to the spot as he turned his attention to the paper ball, picking it up gently and turning it over in his fingers. She sunk even lower in her chair as he reached behind his head with his other arm, patting around on his hair until he found the balls of parchment and slowly picked them out. Her eyes flicked to the door and she wondered if she could reach it before he turned around. Or maybe she could just slide out of her chair and camp out under the table until he was gone.

Gajeel whirled around in his seat before she had a chance to act on any of her plans, his eyes making contact with hers, a snarl on his face which quickly disappeared when he noticed who the culprit was. "Levy?" he grunted, looking down at the paper balls in his hand.

She knew he was contemplating if she had even thrown them, or if they'd been there all day and he'd just never realized it. No, of course he would think she couldn't do something like that. She slowly slid the untouched pieces of ripped paper off of the table without him realizing before sliding them into the wooden seat next to hers. She took his distraction as a chance to finally talk to him.

"Hey!" she waved, pretending that she hadn't noticed it was him sitting in front of her. "What're you doing here?" she asked, mentally banging her head against the wall as she slid out of her chair, grabbing her book and skipping over to his table, plopping down in the seat across from his. She was a terrible actress, and she knew it. She just hoped he was as dense about her acting abilities as he was about her actual presence.

He was.

"Oh, hi," he grunted, his face falling into what looked to her to be annoyance as she joined his table. "I thought you were still at the guild," he added, leaning back over the book, his arms covering almost the entire thing.

Levy frowned, "I come here every day," she said offhandedly, leaning forward and peering between his fingers at the text of the book he was now desperately trying to cover up. "What're ya reading?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light and friendly as she set down her book and cracked it open to the page she'd been on.

When she spied the remnants of the page she had torn out she quickly flipped to another page. She hoped he hadn't seen that. And more importantly, what was he doing? He looked like a kindergartener trying to cover up their test to keep others from cheating off of it. He struggled to cover the entire book with his arms without looking suspicious. He was failing.

"Uh, y'know, just a book," he said, chuckling dryly to himself.

She cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward again. The book from what she could see had a maroon colored cover. She quickly went through her knowledge of all the books in the library with that color of cover and found two. One was an incredibly cheesy romance novel she and Lucy had read together, squealing to each other, and the other was a larger textbook on the history of literature. She guessed the second. She sure hoped it was the second.

"History of Literature, eh?" she asked, her eyes sparkling. Was he really taking an interest in the written arts? Was she finally going to have some sort of topic that she could discuss with him? The possibility elated her.

Gajeel's eyes widened before he sat back with a 'hmph', uncovering the book and looking to her with disbelief. "How'd you know?"

Levy was usually proud of how many books she'd read, but when it came to him, she was rather sheepish. He'd think she was even more obsessed if she could deduct what a book was based on the color of the cover. "Oh, you know," she said, waving her hand in the air as if to clear it, "I've read it recently," she said. It wasn't a lie. But then again she'd read hundreds of books recently.

"Really?" he asked, reaching forward to close the book, and pausing. "Does it get any better?" he asked, looking down at the book with disgust.

Of course he wouldn't like a textbook like that. She plastered on a smile and shook her head. Oh Mavis, that just felt wrong. Telling someone that a book didn't get any better? That was one thing she'd never done before. It did get better, at least she thought so. But _he_ wouldn't think so. Of course he wouldn't.

Gajeel shrugged, closing the book with a slam and leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms and looking away from her.

She was blowing it! This was her chance to discuss books with him and here they were, Gajeel already bored. If she predicted right, he'd be making an excuse to leave soon, and she couldn't have that.

"So why'd you want to read that?" she asked, feigning near indifference. She had to act like she wasn't completely obsessed or she'd scare him off.

She watched his body go rigid, his eyes flicking around the room nervously. "Oh, no reason, someone just suggested it to me."

Well _that_ was a lie.

"Oh? Who?" she asked, trying to keep the tone of mocking out of her voice. She knew she'd caught him in a lie, but he couldn't know that.

"Umb, uh….," he stuttered, "Someone."

Levy rolled her eyes. Real descriptive, Gajeel. "Why did this mystery person recommend it to you?" she asked instead. It was a more pressing question in her mind anyway. If he said that somehow he'd been curious about something literature-related, that'd give her an opening to start her discussion on books.

Gajeel leaned forward on the table, opening the book again and flipping through it. He was trying to find something in that book that he could say he'd had a question about, she knew it. And after a while of flipping, his eyes getting wider and wider, undoubtedly because of the large words, he gave up.

"I was just kinda curious about books, y'know, after all you say about them. Figured maybe they were worth a second look," he said dismissively. She watched him as he intently gauged her reaction.

If she hadn't have been so excited that he was curious about books she would've blushed. Somehow her obsession with the things had rubbed off on him? She was kinda proud. She got the big metal head to walk into a library. It was a feat in and of itself.

"They're pretty great, aren't they?" she asked, her eyes alighting, "Although for someone like you, I'd recommend something other than… this," she said, flipping the book in front of Gajeel closed with her finger.

She noticed him relax a little and smiled. She almost felt like a teacher finding out that her one trouble child actually had an interest in learning. He was hesitant to admit that he was curious, and would be scared off easily if he was judged or poked fun at. But she wasn't going to tease him now, not when his curiosity was so new. Maybe she'd throw a joke or two in if and when he'd been reading for a while. Maybe if she waited, a joke thrown his way wouldn't scare him away from the prospect of reading.

"Well, what would ya recommend?" he asked hesitantly, his eyes flicking from her, to her book, and back again.

She looked down at her own novel and shook her head. "No, not something like this either," she said. She was currently trying to memorize the characters in an ancient language. Gajeel wouldn't be interested in anything along those lines. "I'd suggest you go on over to the fiction section and pick something out in the… either action section or science-fiction section," she said, motioning over to the shelves full of books behind Gajeel. Levy always called them 'boy books' because of all the senseless fighting and odd contraptions.

Gajeel nodded to himself, "Alright, any specific one?"

Levy shrugged, "I've only read a few, so no. Just pick out one you think looks interesting," she said, giving him a smile. She tried to look calm, tried to keep it together, but on the inside she was exploding. He was actually going to go get a book and sit down to read it. She never thought she'd see the day he did that. And she was having a hard time controlling her excitement. Maybe they'd become reading buddies. Maybe it'd be a new weekly tradition and maybe he'd stop overlooking her so much.

He glared down at the textbook he'd been reading, "I don't even know where I got this," he mumbled, scraping his chair backwards and standing up, grabbing the book and turning it over in his hands, his eyes sweeping the library.

"Non-fiction," she sighed, gesturing over her shoulder. "Reference section. Number seven in the series."

She didn't even have to look up to his face to tell he was still confused. In an attempt to keep his interest she stood up from her chair, grabbing the book out of his hands. "I'll put it up. Go find one over there that you like," she said, motioning back over to the fiction section.

"Really?" he asked, smirking down at her. "Thanks, Shrimp. I'm actually kinda excited," he said, shaking his head to himself as if he'd been as convinced as Levy had been that he'd never read another book in his life. Let alone get even a little excited about it.

Her eyes were the size of saucers. Had he just said he was excited? Excited about reading? And he wasn't kidding? This was the best day of her life! That big idiot that she somehow wanted to recognize her was actually excited about a book! She could see it now: they'd get together weekly, having a little book club of their own. He'd read and he'd learn how great books are. And then he'd progress to more complicated books, then real novels, then informative books, then textbooks then-

Unable to handle the excitement _she _felt because of her spiraling thoughts of the future, she squealed, jolting forward and crushing Gajeel in a hug. Well, what you could call a hug when she was a foot shorter than him with a textbook almost as big as she was in one arm. She hadn't thought about the consequences. And even as she squeezed the life out of the Dragon Slayer, her mind was _still _more focused on the fact that maybe the big idiot she cared about might take up an interest of hers, rather than that the big idiot she was hugging was more than a little surprised.

"That's so great, Gajeel!" she cried, her words muffled by his shirt. "I'm sure you'll love whatever book you pick out! Then we'll finally have something to talk about!"

Gajeel looked down at the top of her head, eyes wide, as she continued to hug him. He stayed frozen to the spot for what felt like hours to Levy, as her excitement was slowly replaced by mortification. Oh, she hadn't really just done that, had she? She wasn't really standing here, hugging him, was she? Oh god, she was. And she had just admitted that she wanted to talk about him with something. Not only that, but she'd also insinuated that she'd wanted something to talk about with him for some time now. But more importantly, she was hugging him. And he wasn't hugging her back. He hadn't even moved.

She would've let go and ended the awkward situation for both of their sakes if she wasn't so afraid of what his face would look like. She didn't want to witness his reaction, so she stayed glued to him in an attempt to avoid his gaze forever. Her thinking was sorely off.

"Uh, yeah, I'm sure I will," he said slowly. And then, something beyond her wildest dreams happened: he hugged her back. Well, what she would consider a hug. He warily wrapped one arm around her, awkwardly patting her on the back and grunting to himself. "A-and I'm sure we'll… talk about it," he added, his voice gruff. She could tell he was uncomfortable.

She took that as a pass to pull back. Surely if he'd kinda sorta maybe hugged her back, he wouldn't be angry. And when she pulled back, her eyes still mortified, she realized he wasn't. He just looked… nervous. Yes, that's what he looked like.

She wasn't sure what the expression on his face meant, and she didn't want to scare him off any more. So she quickly shook her head of the experience and smiled up at him as if nothing had happened. "Alright, go find one, then," she said, turning on her heel and skipping off into the reference section, ducking behind the shelf and out of his sight.

She slapped a hand to her mouth to keep from squealing aloud. That had really just happened. He'd not only in the last ten minutes expressed an interest in books, but she'd actually hugged him too, and he'd sorta hugged her back. Her heart was beating erratically and her stomach was full of butterflies as she turned around, peering over the books and out into the library where Gajeel was still glued to the spot, his head dipped as he held a hand to where her head had been.

She watched carefully as he patted the spot twice, before dropping his arm, his head looking up and glancing at other patrons in the library. And then, in an act that set Levy's heart on fire, he smiled. He smiled to himself, snorting once and shaking his head, turning to walk toward the fiction section with a pep in his step she hadn't seen before.

She hugged the textbook close to her chest. Maybe she wasn't as overlooked as she'd thought. And perhaps with a little work, he wouldn't be such a stubborn idiot either. But then again, that was a long shot.

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**So there it is! I hope you liked it! Was it cute? Was it easy enough to understand? Haha. **

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews and whatnot last chapter! They were wonderful! And thank you to Ulcassi, AllTheAnimeLove, and Kawaiibunnyhops for the pairing suggestions! You can bet I'll be doing them!**

**Feel free to suggest some more pairings, even ones that I've already done or ones that have already been suggested! I'll either do more of that pairing or make the one-shot quicker if I get duplicate requests for it. Haha! I have a little thing on my profile with the ones I've already generated adjectives for, if you're curious. XD**

**Next chapter is another GaLe one! I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Eat those candy hearts! :D**


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